NEW DELHI: While flight operations to and from airports in West Bengal and Odisha are likely to be affected by Cyclone Yaas, airports in Ranchi, Patna, Raipur, Jamshedpur, Bagdogra, Cooch Behar, Vizag, and Rajahmundry have also been put on alert.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are closely monitoring the situation with regular review meetings. Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday chaired a meeting to take stock of the preparedness at the airports that are likely to be impacted by the cyclone. The virtual meeting was attended by Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman of the Airports Authority of India.
Keeping the safety of airport infrastructure, human resource, and flight operations in mind, airports have been advised to ‘anticipate, plan and protect’, the AAI said. Secretary (Civil Aviation) has instructed the concerned airports to put in place all preventive measures to minimize any damage.
The AAI and the Indian Meteorological Department are constantly monitoring the situation at all airports in southern and eastern India.Heavy rain and winds of 20-25 knots gusting up to 35 knots forced scheduled civil flight operations to be suspended at Port Blair Airport on Monday.